Fired US Atty Ryan Takes Pay Cut to Work For San Fran's Mayor

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has hired former U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan to lead the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.

Ryan was among at least eight U.S. attorneys fired last year by the Bush Administration. This is his second post, after taking a job in April with the 200-lawyer Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis as a litigation partner.

The move positions Ryan as Mayor Newsom’s point person on crime as San Francisco contends with a “violent crime plague” that left the city with a record-breaking 98 homicides in 2007, the Examiner reports.

Leaving Allen Matkins will mean a pay cut for Ryan, down to about $150,000. But he told the Examiner that money doesn’t matter.

“I’m at a stage in my career where I can do this,” he said. “If I am overqualified for this position, then so be it. It means I bring the expertise the city needs.”